Will you lay on your death bed wishing that you had done something different with your life? When children are forced to murder their family, laugh at a severed head stuck on pole, eat a friend alive… and after it all find the courage to forgive, we must ask ourselves: “What are you NOT willing to risk to find inner freedom?” It was my pleasure to exchange a broken rib,

Less than a decade ago mutilated dead bodies of Northern Uganda were dragged by the hundreds and thrown atop of one another into mass graves; however, when all feels lost in the abyss of hopelessness heroic flames of pure intention emerge to illuminate the damp, dark caves. The sickening pile of horrific sins stacked upon the womb of Mother Nature disintegrates one brushstroke at a time. Rather than corpses, this region now piles art,

As the red dust of Eastern Africa levitates behind our Indian motorcycle, lightening rips through the approaching skies. An echo of white light, the seasonal mask shifts from sunshine to torrential downpour and the internal storm tearing through the colorless flesh, exposing the skeleton within the forgotten finger of humanity. After 27 kilometers of navigating through the red lakes, the captain of this arc on two wheels is the first to be swallowed by the dangerous conditions.

301 innocent souls were buried on top of one another in a mass grave after Kony brutally attacked the refugee camp of Borlonyo in 2004. Moses, the clan leader, was sadly not able to part the waters to save his people this time. With his eyes cast to the ground, his heart buried beneath the soil with loved ones, he shared with us the account of the horrific day where he himself lost 17 family members.

The roads to terror transform into clouds of dust-love as the white, government issued 4 x 4 dyed red, transports jerry cans, art supplies, mattresses and three strangers towards the final month of the Mami Wata Art Therapy Project with a common intention of serving as many children of war as physically possible. One last visit to the compound of Friends of Orphans was written within the blood washed Earth; with open ears our vehicle slowed to a halt in front of the gates of education and hope.

As the red-raw earth of Padertown trembled beneath the celebrating feet of former child abductees, African drumming lit the flame of both traditional and modern dance while shooting stars painted the perfect evening across the sky. After one month of sharing the power of art with the beautiful souls of ‘Friends of Orphans’ the time has come for the Mami Wata Art Therapy Project to move on to Lira,

Together teachers and students walk hand in hand into the unknown; the
light of creative freedom guides us through the darkest regions of the
globe and into the endless potential of the human heart.
In the land where the Lords Resistence Army slaughtered the local
community and cooked their flesh, as an intimidation tactic, it is no
wonder that the trauma within the subconscious of these youth
expressed itself through the emotional attachment to the color red.

Heavy artillery blew holes into the human psyche of Northern Uganda; however, as water rejuvenates dehydrated cells, colors awaken the dormant creativity within and together as one we are liberated from suffering. It is said that you cannot fill a cup that is already full. The war that plagued this region for decades left the land and the souls who inhabit it empty. Years later, the colors of love have returned and are now spreading throughout this landscape,

“What time will we arrive?” The inevitable question was posed. “Someone could give you a thousand answers and never be right,” the bus driver responded. Dust consumed everything in sight as life ran backwards. Villages composed of the ancestral “yurts” with thatched roofs, passed by as history stood still. With our faces painted with red-earth and the concept of time slipping into a hurricane of illusions,

The lotus flower emerges from the sludge and grows into the symbol of enlightenment. Painted by the rough hands of former debt-bonded slaves in 2011, these soft petals bless the canvas of their new life. The brush of creativity replaces the endless skin-tearing brick of the factories near Varanasi, India. Here in Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, mango trees bare heavenly fruit even in the center of the barbwire jungle… and so does humanity!

INSTAGRAM

Instagram has returned invalid data.

ARTIST STATEMENT

As we are intertwined with all that lives, life reminds us that a saint and a mass murderer both exist within everyone. This was a very uncomfortable realization to come to peace with… If we are everything and nothing at the same time, the “good” and the “bad”, then who am “I”? Deep in the heart of the Amazon the answer was revealed to me. It is the POWER OF CHOICE that defines and re-defines our soul with every breath. Choose wisely what role you wish to embody, as you are an important player in this evolving super-organism we call life. We have all been painted into a story; now, which story do you wish to paint?
Read More